Trimotor and Trail

B&W Illustrations; SIGNED EDITION. This book is in Very Good+ condition and has a Near Fine dust jacket. The book and its contents are in mostly clean, bright condition. The text pages are clean and bright. This copy has been signed by the author on the front endpaper, there is a previous owner's long gift notation on the front paper as well. The dust jacket is mostly clean and bright. There are several tiny nicks and one small chip to the dust jackets. "In 1937, Cooley started his career with the forestry service. At this point in time the forestry was looking for ways to improve the methods used to fight fires. Terrain in the mountains in the 1930s was almost inaccessible, and the roads almost nonexistent. (Bramwell). The challenge became focused on finding a way to get to the fire quicker. The service came up with an idea on attaching “water bombs” to a plane to drop on the fire. Although the idea was tested several times, it proved ineffective and was cancelled. (NY times) Cooley thought he could do something with the plane and brought up the idea of smokejumping – parachuting out of an airplane into a fire to get it under control. This had been tried and appeared to prove true in other countries including Russia and Germany. (Bramwell) Many American pilots were unsure about the idea of dropping firefighters into a fire from the air. There are many factors that can go wrong and they were reluctant and hesitant at the idea. Cooley and a partner by the name of Rufus Robinson began to toil with the notion. On July 12, 1940, Cooley and Robinson got their chance to test their idea. The twenty-eight-year-old who had been building roads, towers, and various other structures for the service was ready for the challenge. " (from Wikipedia); Signed by Author